Fated Spirits
by BecauseIAmHere
Summary: A cruel twist of fate, and ironic predestination, has left Zuko's spirit at the feet of a water tribe peasant.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm so excited to be starting this story. Truthfully, I didn't come up with the idea on my own. Originally, I read it off of totally-shady-bookexpert's story Guardian Angel, so if you want to read that you should check it out. I changed the characters, obviously, to my pairing Zutara in a fun little twist. I AM planning on going deeper into the story, I just thought I'd give a preview before my summer vacation starts (aka writing vacation). I'll have a schedule for my story the day that school gets out, so don't you worry.**

 **All I ask of you is your feedback- and maybe some suggestions! I'd love to hear them and make the story better for everyone.**

* * *

 _Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart._

 _-Marcus Aurelius_

* * *

Zuko stared into the eyes of his father, wide with hatred and scorn, and brought his slick forehead to the floor in an act of desperate apology.

"I mean you no disrespect," Zuko looked up pleading, tears stinging his eyes as the remorseless Ozai's face broke into an even deeper scowl. "I am your loyal son."

"Rise and fight Prince Zuko," came his father's voice, harsh and demanding over everyone's questionable chatter in the steaming stadium. The thick air coaxed around Zuko's lungs, applying a pressure to a chest that already felt like bursting, sweat mixing with tears that would not give. Disobeying a direct order in order to obey. Ozai fumed as his son replied raspily against the fight his throat was giving, "I won't fight you!"

"You will learn respect...," Ozai started. His son pushing himself helplessly onto his knees, ignoring the sharp gravel piercing into his skin. The disheveled hair from Zuko's ponytail making him look even more defenseless and cowardly. Zuko was everything his son should not be, everything a future Firelord could not be. It was utterly humiliating to Ozai.

With a calculated decision that had crossed his mind many a time, Ozai smirked and raised his blazing fists, "...And suffering will be your teacher." Zuko's tears stained the ground and gave a hisss as his own father brought down a scorching force upon his face, shoving his son into the burning gravel and into unconsciousness. But not before the young boy could let out a wail that would give the audience a chill for the rest of their lifetimes.

* * *

The air was fresh and cool when Zuko awoke. A smoke settling along his breath made him believe that he was still in the arena. Flinching, Zuko brought his hands to his face, a late reaction to his father's fist.

Laying on a cold substance and peeking out from his red and gold adorned sleeves, Zuko observed the clearness of a sky with no sign of clouds nor smog. There was no fist and no arena, but there was… _what was this? Snow?_

Zuko raised wobbily from the cold and wet ice, stumbling through the thickness of the snow. _Where was he?_ Zuko thought, this was definitely not the fire nation. In the distance, outlines of magnificent ice mountains― glaciers his tutors called them ―carved the landscape down into an ocean about as rough and unforgiving as his father. The thought made Zuko cringe and stumble backward to avoid the water.

There in view stood a small village, if it could even be considered that, along the ice beds. A group of blueskin tents were arranged in a half circle around a lousy fire. Its red and orange life wielding a contrast, nonetheless, to the blue land it was among.

"Sokka! If I have to tell you one more time to quit playing around and get back to the chores, I swear I wi― AHH!"

Zuko nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping back to the floor on all fours. He quickly scanned his surroundings again before his eyes landed on a pair of fur covered water tribe peasants, from what he assumed. The female among the two looked at Zuko as though he was a monster, hands over her mouth and eyes as frightful as his own.

"What, what is it?" The girl's companion, Sokka, asked. Staring at Zuko as well, but not registering that he was there. "What are you looking at?"

The girl fell backwards in shock and raised a shaking hand out, pointing straight at Zuko's left eye, "Fire Nation!"

Although the statement perked Sokka up, it didn't seem to have the desired effect that the girl had hoped for. Sokka didn't even look in the direction she was gesturing at, her cries just made him sorry. The girl's face looked incredulously at her male companion, "Sokka! There is a FIRE NATION boy right across from us! Don't play with me!" The girl wasted no time in gathering herself up from the ice and dragging Sokka away from Zuko.

Zuko didn't dare move from his spot, he felt the way he had when he faced his father, fingers crawling into the crunchy snow with anger and fear and all the other emotions one would feel if they were deserted in a place like this. No food, no shelter, with people that hated him mutually. The thought that dawned across Zuko's mind hopelessly, the one that he tried to push from his brain, was his Uncle leaving him here without so much as a goodbye.

 _He deserved it anyway._

"Katara slow down. Look there's no one here, there's no dirty snow, I think all that cleaning has gotten to your head." Sokka tried to reason, resting a hand over her back and making an effort to soothingly shush her thoughts. Katara's eyebrows furrowed and forehead creased dramatically, "There is someone there." She cried, grabbing a lethal section of Sokka's coat and panting mercilessly in what looked like to Zuko an escalating panic attack. "I― I― I can't― breathe."

Zuko took pride in his ability to handle tough situations, but watching a poor girl suffer because of him was not one. So carefully he got back up, shaking less than before, and slowly, with hands in front of him, started towards a screaming Katara

It was at this point Sokka realized the urgency of the situation. That of which proved his reasoning from long ago of his sister being crazy. "Hold on Katara," Sokka panicked, noticing the increasing shock in his sister's actions, "I'm going to get help." Was it things like this where you weren't supposed to move the patient? Sokka didn't know and he wasn't going to test his accuracy of retaining vital information. So Sokka let his grasp of his sister slacken and roughly ripped her anchoring hold on him as he got up and shot towards the half circle of tents

"No― help― Fire Nation," Katara gasped between breaths still scooting away from an advancing Zuko.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Zuko said calmly, coughing from the constricting ache in his throat. "Don't worry, did you see Soowka? He wasn't." It was true that the Water Boy did not see Zuko as a threat, but in all honesty, Zuko wondered why it was that Sokka didn't mention his presence at all. It was frivolous to get riled up just because he had not been introduced as a Prince, Zuko knew as much, but it still upset him. "I'm a Prince, I would not stoop so low as to injure anyone who doesn't invoke a fight." It might've been just Zuko, but it looked like this statement did nothing to alleviate the girl, Katara's, fright. _Why was she so afraid of him?_

Zuko faltered in the slippery terrain again, abruptly swinging his arms outward to keep an adequate enough balance. The unexpected turn of Zuko's limbs sent Katara into a paralyzed state of shock, wheezing an improper amount of air. Less than the desired amount her lung capacity should take. _Shit_ , Zuko thought. Trying to be less intimidating, Zuko quickly hid his hands behind his back in an attempt to calm the girl.

Still trudging forward, but with more caution in his advance, Zuko restated, "I said I'm not going to hurt you!" He was growing impatient. Many factors contributed to Zuko's frustration, from his struggle to walk, to the freezing temperatures, to his father dumping him on some isolate chunk of frozen water where the girls were scared of him for no earthly reason. Take your pick.

When Zuko finally reached the cowering girl he collapsed in the spot Sokka left vacant. "Hey," he whispered, "I don't know why you're so afraid, but I promise I won't hurt you. Here, take a few breaths with me." Zuko positioned himself more in front of Katara's view, noticing the flinch that her whole body gave when seeing his face. He pretended not to care.

Zuko took hold of both of the girl's hands, heating his body a bit as he ran his thumbs over the smooth skin on the back. Katara began to pull away but gave in with the pleasurable warmth of his skin, she hadn't felt anyone this warm besides her mother. _Her mother._

Before Katara could think to tear herself from the scarred Fire Nation boy again, he started speaking softly. As if he was trying to be helpful.

"Take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs." He started, releasing one of her hands to give a demonstration of the direction her breath should go. He smiled a bit when she nodded and continued his explanation. "Hold your breath to the count of three, and then exhale slowly through pursed lips while you relax your whole body."

Katara did as instructed, following the lead of the boy in front of her. She hadn't entirely titled the boy as trustworthy, still weary of his tyrannical heritage, but he certainly had cracked her door of curiosity.

They maintained this process until it was clear that Katara's breath was close to normal. "That's good," the boy commended, crossing his arms around his torso. "You feel better?"

Katara nodded again quietly, vigilant over the boy's bending, and yet missing the warmth of his skin.

"I'm sorry I surprised you, I'm not exactly sure how I got here." Zuko, awestruck, took a double take at the beauty around them, Katara's home, and then back into her large eyes. Zuko grew nervous now that she wasn't freaking out about his proximity. "How did you get here?" He waited, and no sooner than the awkward moment that passed, Katara gave him a knowing look. Zuko muttered, "OH! No, no, I guess we all know how you got here," He looked back up sheepishly. "I was just saying that I didn't know how I got here. I'm not from the… North Pole, obviously."

"South." Katara corrected, a certain fire in her voice that rivaled Zuko's bending.

"South what?"

"South Pole."

"South… Pole?" Zuko had heard tons of stories about the North Pole and its savage residents, but no one in the palace ever mentioned the villages in the South. If not for his accurate knowledge of geography, he might not have even known about the South Pole; except for maybe that it was cold. And South.

"Yeah, South Pole," Katara said harshly. "When are you going back home to the volcano?"

"The volcano?" Zuko snorted.

Katara crossed her legs defensively, she did not like this boy's tone. "Your "palace" majesty "Prince" Boy." She replied sarcastically, putting quotations around the boy's fake home and title.

The boy looked outraged for a second, but his face was quickly wiped of the irritation and formed into displeasure. More specifically, a somber sort of displeasure. Katara immediately softened, paying close attention to the way the boy's expression contrasted with the piercing red scar that blistered across the left side of his face. He must've been ignoring the penetrating burn because it looked fresh. Disturbingly fresh.

So fresh that she wondered if he had injured himself. It was true what her brother had said, that there was no reason to worry. Their village hadn't been warned of Fire Nation presence; there was no ashen snow. So then how had this boy gotten here, and was he the only one? He might've just washed up on shore, but surely, he should've been dead from the glacial temperature of the sea and its relentless current.

"I'm not sure that I'm going back home." The boy said solemnly, fidgeting his fingers. "I made a mistake and was dumped here. I'm not exactly sure what happened, I just woke up in the ice."

Katara was puzzled to say the least. She had so many questions and didn't know where to start, so she started with the most obvious. "Does it have something to do with..." Katara waved her hand frantically, motioning around the side of her face.

Zuko seemed to get the gist and instantly raised his fingers to his eye. It had been feeling numb but he didn't exactly have time to examine this feeling further, considering the circumstances. In fact, his whole body had been feeling numb, but the only words he could put together to describe the sensation on his face other than numb was 'blurred' and 'fuzzy'. Kind of like his vision. When the pads of Zuko's fingers reached to the skin around his eye, his normally velvet coat felt as if it were peeling.

With a deep sink in her heart, Katara watched as the dismayed boy in front of her rushed and skidded to the edge of the ocean. It was clear he was searching for his reflection, like he hadn't known about the burn previous to her mention of it. "Careful!" Katara shouted, struggling to collect herself from the floor and running up behind the boy, who bent over the thick sleet.

The meeting took an unexpected turn as Katara began to calm the Fire Nation boy. She perceived this reversal as a one way consolation. Compared to her loss of control being restored, the boy's severe injury wasn't going to be cured with a few fancy breaths. _I am useless_ , Katara thought, idle to the boy's fat, ugly tears. He hadn't done this to himself, Katara resolved. The Fire Nation was a brutal competitor; she saw firsthand how they treated people outside their Nation, and was now aware of how they treated _the people of_ their Nation.

This boy wasn't a threat.

 _He was a victim._

"You can stay with my people." Katara decided, chest tightening as the boy looked up from the water the first time, sniffling. Katara took her hand from his back, reuniting it with its mirrored pair and set them between her crossed legs. "You can stay as long as you keep us warm and bring back food with Sokka, my brother. Hopefully, you thrive at hunting, unlike him. Maybe with you here he'll get competitive enough to actually catch something." Katara chuckled, making the boy smile softly.

The boy sniffled again and wiped the tears from his good side, fully turning his body away from the black water now. "Are you sure they will take me? Your brother, Soowka― Skoka― Sokka, neglected me before. You didn't even want to look at me." Katara could almost hear the unsaid sentence that hung sorrowfully in the air after; _I don't even want to look at me_. The boy was desperate, you could see it in his eyes. Katara would rather be eaten by a lionturtle than leave her new friend to the elements, even if his element was the essence of destruction.

"I really don't mind, I just have a thing about the Fire Nation, everyone does... and Sokka's just going to have to get used to it. You have a home here as long as my Gran Gran is village elder. And she's going to be for a very, very, VERY long time." Katara assured, admiring her home with a faraway look of anguish.

Katara held out her hand and the boy immediately raised his own to lift her up. "But first, I need to know the name I'm going to introduce you as to my family." She looked up at him, admiring the exotic lightness of his unblemished skin. The smooth, fine hair, as black as the roaring water, that fell in his face along with the rosiness of his cheeks.

"Zuko," he said confidently. "My name is Zuko."

The boy, Zuko, was handsome. Despite the marred flesh, his features displayed the face of an elegant, Fire Nation citizen. So elegant that Katara truly wondered, just for a second, if Zuko was truthful in his claim of being royalty. She quickly dismissed the idea; no royal would punish their heir like this.

"Well, Zuko, I look forward to ge―"

"KATARA!" Sokka interrupted.

The pair watched as Katara's protective older brother, originally a speck in the distance, become normal height as he reached them. "You're up!" Sokka observed. "Does this mean you're feeling better? You're not seeing things, are you?" He squinted his eyes, analyzing his sister for hints of integrity. "You really were freaking me out there, I have Gran Gran hiking up her knees in snow to come take a look at you!"

"Wait Sokka, what do you mean seeing things?"

Now it was Sokka's turn to look incredulously at his sister. _Yep, definitely crazy_. "Katara, I thought we established that no one was there." He reached into the sky, "No black snow." He circled his head with more exaggerated force than needed, "No crazy, fire wielding, villains. Maybe you should sit back down again."

Katara slapped the back of her brother's head, "Stop being foolish, Zuko is right her―" Katara stopped mid-sentence, appalled at the sight before her. The _empty_ sight before her. "I swear on Gran Gran's life he was right behind me."

Sokka grumbled, rubbing the spot right next to where Katara hit, "Can we just go back now Kooky, before you make me start seeing things too." He turned and started trudging through the snow, waving at their Gran Gran to head back; Katara was fine now. All back to normal.

Yes, back to normal indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for your patience! It's been a busy couple of days coming into summer, but now that it's here I can't wait for all my free writing to commence. With that being said, here's the next chapter of my story.**

 **Please don't go easy on me, I adore constructive criticism, enjoy!**

* * *

Since Zuko's disappearance, or Katara's "moment of insanity" as Sokka coined, life for the tribe had not just been pleasurably normal. They would go so far as to say that life was easier, well, easier from the previous hardships it had endured.

There was always enough food being picked and hunted by Sokka, much to the tribe's dismay, the fire was always lively, and chores were not so displeasing.

Katara's shared tent had never been warmer; it left Sokka and Gran Gran sweltering, drowning in their own sweat and confusion about the heat that the girl seemed to drag around the village.

"I swear to Tui and La Kanna, your granddaughter must really be in heat because I'm cooking just looking at her." Kojaa, the tribe's youngest mother, joked. "We might as well use her to lure in some Polar Dog pack for the long season."

"Normally I would disagree to anyone comparing my Katara to an animal, but I think you must be on to something." Kanna chuckled, eyes traveling the restless village and settling on the young girl. Katara sat with the children, stirring a pot in the intervals between telling the young ones old folktales and dragging the even younger ones away from the fire.

"She's a real blessing, your Katara. Even before her womanhood she was already burning with an intuition and wit uncommon for her age. I can't imagine her marring any man resembling anything close to that of a Polar Dog." The light atmosphere dimmed with Kojaa's allusions of a nonexistent suitor for the fairest woman the tribe had been graced with since Kya. It was a tragedy, to say the least.

"There will be someone Kanna." Kojaa reassured easily, resting a cool hand on the old woman's back.

Kanna smiled obscurely, eyes drawing back to her compassionate granddaughter, so full of heat and love that it poured out of her. Quite literally. She watched as Katara finished her story, making the children clap and laugh happily. Kanna's granddaughter bowed at her audience then stumbled for the spoon, seemingly remembering the meal she was supposed to be looking out for. When she managed to secure the spoon in her grip, Katara stirred the pot so naturally that it looked like the stew was stirring itself. It only proved Kanna's deduction more.

"I know there is."

* * *

 _"You can have it all. Just not all at once."_

 _― Oprah Winfrey_

* * *

 **Two Years Later**

"It's not getting away from me this time. Watch and learn Katara. This is how you catch a fish." Sokka said determined, scouring the ocean with his spear, ready to pounce. The fish had been taunting him, splashing Sokka whenever he got close. Hungry and tired, Sokka pledged to capture and eat the scaly creature if it was the last thing he did.

Katara rolled her eyes, over her brother's antics, quietly removing her glove. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on the choppy waves. Face determined much like her brother, Katara began to motion her exposed hand. She had been feeling impulsive in the past few years, a feeling that had only grown since the longing to harness her abilities sparked.

Emotions previously unfamiliar to Katara had also developed out of nowhere a couple of years ago, and emotions that hadn't been felt since her mother's death as well. The tribe blamed them on her teenage body; laughing at her mood swings, but still very aware of their severity.

And right now, Katara was feeling severely confident.

Slowly and hesitantly an orb of water containing the very fish Sokka sought hovered above the canoe. "Sokka, look!"

"Shhh Katara," Sokka silenced. "You're gonna scare it away. Mmmm I can already smell it cookin'!" He waved a lazy hand at his sister, not bothering to look up as the floating orb inched closer to the siblings.

"But Sokka! I caught one!"

"I think I saw it!" Sokka announced, ignoring his sister and drawing back his spear, precisely popping the water bubble Katara struggled with.

The icy water splashed onto the young tribesman, drenching him in the liquid and lugging down his heavy skin coat. Just as the fish was about to flounder from the boat, a gust of hot wind passed by, nudging the fish just far enough to hit the edge of the wood and flop back into the confines of the canoe. "AHA!" Sokka cheered. "You caught it! Not by any means I should appreciate though. Thanks for getting me wet." He shrugged sarcastically. "But I guess I could let your cheating slide, you are a girl after all. So, decent job. You know I had it right?"

Giving the underhanded compliment, Sokka plucked the fish by up by its tail and waved it in front of his sister.

"Hey!" Katara exclaimed, pushing her brother and snatching the fish with her ungloved hand. "I did NOT cheat! I caught the fish before you and pretty well at that, you know 'for a girl.'" She mimicked the boy, waving the fish in front of his face.

"Ugghh," Sokka complained, now fully feeling the consequences of being wet in the tundra. "Why is it that every time you play with magic water **I** get soaked?"

Katara held her breath, exasperated, "it's not magic. It's waterbending, and it's- "

"Yeah, yeah," Sokka interrupted. "An ancient art unique to our culture, blah blah blah. Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself."

"Are you calling me weird?" Katara asked, pointing to herself.

"Well I'm not saying your weird, exactly, I just saying- WATCH OUT!" The siblings quickly turned their full attention away from their bickering and onto an ocean suddenly spotted in thick, round, blankets of ice.

Beginning to work frantically to maneuver the canoe between the iceburgs, Katara shouted "Left! Go left!"

Sokka, turning right, managed to avoid getting crushed between the colliding icebergs. As the pair continued their attempt to stay afloat, icebergs collided all around them, their safety margins decreasing rapidly each time they passed up another match of deadly ice blocks.

But as soon as the ice appeared, it begun to disappear. Katara and Sokka watched in disbelief as the ice seemingly melted from the water, raising the sea level just enough to accelerate the canoe straight into a large boulder of ice.

Splintering the boat, Sokka watched sadly as the fish jumped back into the water. Giving the Water Boy a final splash of provocation before swimming away.

"Aww man, my dinner."

* * *

When I died, I didn't know why I couldn't leave Katara's side.

Two years later, I still don't.

My recollection of what happened before I awoke in this land of water had come back in chunks at long intervals. Which for the most part was just great because _all I had now was time,_ but it seemed that the longer I spent in this _purgatory_ my memories and remembrances became fuzzier and fuzzier.

And it was only just recently that I have been able to put them all together.

But for two years I sat in a cold, barren land, plagued with confusion and doubt. Only able to recall the buzzing of adrenaline through my veins, the excited pounding of a crowd, and the burning copper sensation of tears and blood in my throat.

Everything had been distorted save for the exact moment of my death.

 _"You will learn respect Prince Zuko, and suffering will be your teacher"_

I avoided the reflective water surrounding the land at all costs, startled of my own gaze, but my mutilation was not the only reason I spent time away from the water. It was Katara.

I met Katara at my first arrival in the South Pole, unbeknownst of my fatality, which only took a few minutes after I was flat out ignored for me to connect. Frustrated with my lost attempts at recognition, I tried to walk away and wallow in my own self-pity. After a couple of feet, though, a tug on my chest became so intense that I was forced to follow the Water siblings back into the camp.

I have not been able to successfully leave Katara's side since.

Not that I would want to anyway, where else would I go?

I didn't loathe where I was placed, Agni knew there were definitely worse places to be left. In fact, I rather liked it. So much so that I don't think my time alive was any better than being here, better than the life I had with my father and sister.

With all the hours I spent with Katara, I realized just how much we had in common. But I would often wonder why I, Prince of the _Fire Nation,_ was put on this wasteland with Katara?

Within the years, I had come up with an idea, but deftly choose to overlook my prediction. I would not question the spirits.

I spent my spare time learning of the tribe's culture and daily life, and from what I had seen, it was not the savage place I had been taught to believe. Never having to do a single chore in my short life, I watched and followed Katara dutifully everyday as she followed her list. A list that, from what I could tell, had not been given to her, but made by her. Happily so.

It was a concept. Everyone did their part in the small village. And although they could not see me, I would not overstay my visit or make the spirits angry, I did my part as well. A part that consisted of helping Katara, that is.

Or being around Katara.

Pretty much anything to do with Katara.

I could never get enough of her. I was never bored, and still never am, even though we do the same thing every day. I do not tire of her like I did with my servants or my sister and her friends. I was perfectly content with just spending my bottomless amount time with her, which was a good thing considering I couldn't stray too far without my chest imploding.

I had grown a fondness for the fierce girl. A fondness that, I guess, I would've held for my sister if I hadn't been so careless and selfish. I know that now. Katara has helped me see the wrong of the palace, of the war, of my father.

Of myself.

It's a tragedy that I cannot enlighten my family in the palace, and the people in the court, of my new revelations. I might not be able to help the tribe politically, but I would do what I could to make Katara's life easier. That I was sure of.

She was my family now.

So, I warmed the camp and aided in catching food or lifting ice, as long as Katara was near the area of struggle. Which she always was.

I guess you could say I was protective.

If not wanting my new companion to get hurt is protective.

I often would catch Katara's arm if she slipped on the ice, or throw snowballs at an unsettling and disruptive Sokka, or even melt an ocean full of ice to prevent the canoe from crashing.

What I could not protect Katara from was a wave of said newly melted ice from crashing the canoe.

* * *

"Sokka are you kidding me right now!" Katara chastised, throwing her head in her hands in an attempt not to cry out in frustration.

"No, I'm not! Did you not just see our food get away, _again_ , no thanks to you that is."

" _Me_?"

"I don't know why you keep asking specifics about yourself today but definitely, yes, you!" Sokka blamed, jumping out of the shattered boat and away from the ledge of ice. Katara followed grumpily in suit, feet crunching the snow a little harder than need be.

"You're the one that went right, I had told you left." She grumbled.

Sokka shook his head. "If I had gone left that still wouldn't have stopped the ice caps from melting." He said, looking without faith at the ice under his feet and then back to his sister.

"You think I'm the reason that the ice melted. Please Sokka, how would I have achieved something like that?" _She was not an actual bonfire_ , Katara thought, rejecting the hearth that the tribe had so pleasurably dispensed onto her for comparisons at meals.

Sokka threw his hands up as if it was the most obvious thought for miles. "YOUR MAGIC WATER!"

Katara scoffed, hurt that Sokka wasn't completely confident of her capabilities, or of her sincerity. "The magic water I don't even know how to control!"

"So you admit it!"

Katara was already at the height of her pent-up anger. A strategically set bomb, Katara could feel her fuse drawing near the end of the string. "Admit what? That I don't have control over the water, gee, I wonder why? Hmmm? May it be because-"

"Admit that it's magic water." Sokka stated directly, cutting the Watertribe girl off.

Katara took a pregnant pause just studying her brother, feeling the abrupt momentum of the explosion Sokka had just catalyzed. "UGH! You are ridiculous. So it's me and my magic water's fault?" She screeched.

Sokka shook his head, disreguarding his sister's outburst. "I knew I should have left you home. Leave it to a girl to screw things up."

Previously unaware of Katara's explosion, Sokka suddenly wasn't so ignorant of his sister's willingness to be taken seriously. "You are the most sexist…"Katara started, immediately skipping the ascend of a normal humans patience level.

Katara was a strong climber and was already at the fourth level, the inclusion of limbs, as she was already throwing her arms for emphasis.

Getting more caught up in her rant, Katara's fury raged, heating the inside of her jacket enough to create a trickle of perspiration down her brow. The bead of sweat swiftly disappeared as if an unknown entity had wiped it away, making Katara shiver. Unconscious of that, she continued, "immature, nut brained..."

As for the emergence of Sokka's nervous sweat, he wasn't so lucky.

"Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!"

Along with her longing for waterbending, Katara also gained an _even more_ fiery temper to match. Strongly tied to her opinions, the impulsive, easily tempered, prideful young woman rocked the water unknowingly. So much so, that the iceberg they were standing on began to heave.

The ground shook violently and, in the midst of Katara's oration, a huge crack in the ice left from Katara's heel all the way to the base of the ice boulder behind her. Sokka, who had noticed the quite large and intimidating crack, tried to intervene. "Uh... Katara?"

"I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!"

"Katara!" Sokka said worriedly, watching the crack form up the glacier with every increased alteration in his sitter's voice "Settle down!"

Katara fumed. "No, that's it. I'm done helping you. From now on, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!" With that, and a last knocking of fists, the iceberg behind her split open entirely. Disintegrating in a puff of cool smoke, the siblings watched and shielded their eyes as major pieces fell into the water. They held their ground on the ice desperately until the iceberg settled.

"Okay," Sokka sighed. "You've gone from weird to freakish, Katara."

Katara looked at her brother incredulously. "You mean I did that?"

"Yup. Congratulations." Sokka praised sarcastically. "If your magic water was able to do this without you being able to control it, I'd really hate to see what it could do if you did know."

At that moment, staring up at the crumpled monstrosity she had destroyed singlehandedly, Katara thought that maybe it wasn't so outrageous for her to have melted the icecaps.

* * *

My Uncle used to tell me when I would become defeated in my bending that 'I would learn better in time.' I often think back and reflect on that. Before, I had complained back to him that time was the only obstacle standing in my way, as if it was a monster that had only tortured me, only glancing at my sister.

It was ironic, because my Uncle had also said, 'you never know a good thing until you don't have it'. With all my reflection, I also found that it works backwards, 'you'll know a good thing when you get it.'

And now, all I have is time.

And Katara.


End file.
